Summer Refreshment Series–Gaining a life of adventure.

Summer Refreshment Series* – Live ABOVE the Chaos – Doing Everything you Know to Do

Everyone knows, in theory, that when we get out of bed in the morning, we have no idea what the day will bring. But many of us don’t live like that is true. We roll out of bed trusting in our plans or in our abilities to organize the world to our liking (as if we can do that). God asks us, however, to run our life from within, where His Spirit resides in the hearts of each of His children. When we learn to rely on the Spirit for our moment-by-moment direction, our life is never the same again. There is room for every day to be an adventure, with room for miracles.

Laurie O’Connor, Live ABOVE the Chaos (Alpharetta: Booklogix, 2014), 186-188.

I once read an analogy about following the Spirit that I never forgotten. Suppose you become lost while driving somewhere and stop to ask for directions. Instead of describing how to get there, the person says, “Hey, I am going there right now; follow me.” You would instantly relax. When someone who knows the way leads us, there is no stress. That’s what it is like to walk in the Spirit. Let’s get up each morning and set our sights on God. Let’s commit to following Him closely all day long. The Spirit knows how to stay on God’s heels. He will show us the way.

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Since all believers receive the Holy Spirit as a gift when they become Christians, the phrase “everyone born of the Spirit” refers to Christians.

Being Spirit-filled—adopting a lifestyle that is intent on taking every next step the Spirit prompts us to make—produces an exciting life. Just like the wind turns on a dime and switches direction with no warning, God will do the same with people who have their hearts in neutral and allow Him to do the directing. If you decide to live as a Spirit-filled Christian—no, when you decide—get ready. Whatever map you carry in your head about where your life will lead … whatever you have dreamed or imagined as the ideal future … God will tear it down and build something better.

Your life will become like the wind.

God may lead you to:

-leave the job you have always known.
-travel to a country you don’t yet know exists.
-bear children you haven’t planned.
-change your lifestyle in spite of objections from family
members.
-suffer something you don’t think you can survive, but
you will.

Life can change direction or speed during our next phone call. I have lived that reality and you probably have too. I know the idea of inviting a lifestyle of changed directions is scary, but the Holy Spirit is perfect like God the Father, and God the Son. The Spirit lives to glorify the Son, and the Son lives to glorify the Father (John 16:13–15). It is safe to following His leading. He never makes a mistake and the results are guaranteed to produce God-sized results that last for eternity.

When we allow the Holy Spirit to lead:

-That which is black and white becomes Technicolor.
-Miracles will begin to happen.
-You will get to know the safety of His immense love.

Remember, the litmus test of what we really believe is evidenced by our behaviors. Are you hearing the Spirit, but ignoring His nudgings? Are you saying you believe, but are not doing? When I read the lists above, my heart literally aches for that kind of life. I only have a dot to spend, and I want it to count for the string. Let’s surrender any preconceptions we have about what life should look like. Let’s allow the Spirit to sit in the driver’s seat and take us wherever God wishes. In this way, we prove our trust in God with our hands and our feet. We live it out. Other people can help us, counsel us, and pray for us, but this type of life is mainly wrought in the secret places of our listening hearts and then we do whatever the Spirit says. Are you letting your hair become wind-blown by the Spirit? Are you doing everything you know to do?

*Summer Refreshment Series runs from June 10-August 12. Each week, this series will provide an excerpt from Live ABOVE the Chaos, selected specifically to encourage you in the heat of your summer months.

Picture Explanation: A boy and his dog. He even feeds him doggie ice cream on his pet’s third birthday. blogdog1

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